


In Dreams

by Avenger_Hawk



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Darkfic, Delirium, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Power Dynamics, Power Imbalance, Reincarnation, Sexual Violence, this is a very dark fic read at your own risk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-15
Updated: 2015-11-15
Packaged: 2018-05-01 07:08:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,720
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5196815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avenger_Hawk/pseuds/Avenger_Hawk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Madara won. Everyone is lost in their Infinite Tsukuyomi except for Izuna, brought back in a desolate world where he can only remember the one he loved and lost, or watch Sasuke dreaming of loved and lost one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story has a strong symbolic element, a strong personal value and various levels of meaning, some of which metaphorical, that will be explained at the end of the story so not to influence your reading experience.
> 
> Izuna Uchiha is not a character with a well defined personality, compared to others. This is good opportunity for an author, as there is a lot of freedom for our imagination to roam free. This is my interpretation of him, and of a rare pairing such as IzunaxSasuke, that my friend admiral izusasu on tumblr likes so much.

 

> " _This is my life, this is eternal_
> 
> _How Did I ever end up here?"_
> 
> _(Afi, But Home Is Nowhere)_

* * *

They say that nature will always find a way.

After the end of the war flowers keep blooming like nothing happened even if the light is fainter, filtered from the tall branches of the Shinju tree, now grown into a forest spread all over the world.

Animals keep hunting and being hunted but their steps are muffled by the grayish woolly material that falls on the ground like leaves in autumn.

The wild beasts' cries are replaced by an eerie silence, as if everyone lost their voice.

Everything is silent.

Madara won; against death, against humanity.

In his world there will be no more wars, no more discrimination.

Every human being is tucked into a gray cocoon tethered to the trees, dreaming of living the life they always dreamt of.

Everyone is in the best of worlds now, no longer tied to unwanted duties or people, finally free to be a hero, a ruler, a genius, an object of desire, regardless of their status and abilities.

The Uchiha patriarch got rid of all the past Kage but Hashirama, his best friend and rival, the strongest, once, when he didn't have a seal in his head that could be rewritten in case of rebellion.

He brought Izuna back from the dead, wanting the one who gave him his eyes to see the world he finally created.

* * *

To his utmost surprise Izuna is not thrilled as he expected.

His younger brother lived in a long gone past. He was ignorant of many things.

He knew hard work to reach perfection. He knew loyalty and sacrifice.

He knew war and hunger and pain and death.

He didn't know forbidden jutsu or magic trees.

To him this world doesn't make sense. To him Madara doesn't make sense either.

Izuna willingly sacrificed for him; the elder was the most important asset in the clan's struggle for a supremacy that would have brought peace.

Besides, brothers must protect each other.

Third of five sons, it was in his nature to care about his siblings.

Sometimes he felt like his existence wasn't his own. That he didn't even exist as a person.

He belonged to the clan. He belonged to his brothers.

Their pain was his pain. Their victories were his victories.

Because of his disposition his mother made him promise to him to look after the family if something happened to her.

That moment arrived too soon, when she died giving birth.

Their father was too stricken with grief to think about the newborn. Their brothers were not interested in the one who had stolen their mother's life.

Despite being just a child Izuna was the only one who cared for the little one whose only fault was to exist.

He learnt everything he could from elderly clanswomen. He fed, cleaned and dressed the baby, staying awake all night when he had fever, teaching him how to read and use weapons, turning a shivering little bundle into a healthy child despite the hardships.

In the clan he was known as Nanashi, 'no name', since no one bothered to give him one.

Eventually that epithet stuck to him.

* * *

One day they headed to the battlefield; when they returned, their village had been devastated.

Half of the population had been killed, including elders and children.

Including Nanashi.

Seeing his little brother's body in a puddle of dried blood, hands clutching the kunai Izuna had given him, eyes missing, for he was already food for crows, was more painful than anything he ever witnessed.

He felt sick, then dizzy, then everything went black.

When he returned to his senses something slick and warm was flowing on his cheek.

He had obtained Mangekyou Sharingan.

Madara too obtained it that day, at the sight of all the innocent people died in a vile ambush.

_Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan was far more important than his own._

_Izuna was not the hope for the clan. Not that he minded. He preferred supporting, not leading._

_He supported Madara with admiration and brotherly love, especially when everyone else died and there remained just the two of them._

Izuna never understood how his older, stronger brother, whom everyone aspired to be like, could have befriended a Senju, the same clan that had killed their brothers.

He couldn't stand Hashirama's presence. Not even now that his clan won.

_As if this was a real victory. What is the point of ruling over a world where everyone is asleep?_

Because of his reluctance to accept the new world Madara assigned him to guard their base.

_As if someone could wake up._

* * *

They used mokuton to erect a circular structure around the original Shinju tree.

The entrance is located at ground level; in the hollowed out trunk carved stairs lead to the multiple levels that encompass the branches almost up to the tallest ones.

Everyone has private quarters.

Madara chose to keep Hashirama close. To Izuna it was not unexpected.

Besides, he likes being alone. He never had such luxury when he was alive and they all slept in tents or in the open, ready to fight back should the enemy attack.

Before their village was destroyed he slept in the same room with all his brothers.

_He always slept on his side, keeping Nanashi safe in his embrace._

Among the many unused rooms in their wooden facility there is a laboratory -that serves no purpose –and a temple, a large space with an altar to the ancient gods that their clan used to worship before they adopted the Senju's Will of Fire as a sign of peace and union.

_It was easy for Madara to give up on their cult; he had never been a believer._

_For Izuna it was different. The names of their gods, the rituals they performed, were not just empty acts of devotion. They were part of his memory, they reminded him of their mother._

There is a protruding branch that crosses half the room, from which four cocoons are hanging.

Three are very close: they are Senju descendants, Madara explained him.

The other one is tethering from the lower edge, almost touching the floor.

Inside there is the last Uchiha alive; a hot-headed rebel with no loyalty towards his name.

His brother had no choice but to stab him.

He would have died if a comrade hadn't healed him, right before the Infinite Tsukuyomi activated.

_Madara had chosen this man as Izuna's vessel._

_Seeing him crouched over a young, dying one, reminded him of a long time ago, when the same brother he wanted to bring back was hopelessly trying to save their youngest sibling._

* * *

Life has never been so bland.

Followed by Hashirama, Madara comes and goes.

He seems to enjoy owning the endless gray-white forest growing as far as the eye can see, so much that Izuna stops looking outside.

The special people in the temple are his only company.

Not having seen anyone from this era he wonders what the people inside them look like.

The curiosity is so strong that he cracks the cocoons open. Just a little rip to catch a glimpse of their faces.

There is a middle aged woman, a red-haired girl wearing spectacles and a blond boy.

They don't resemble any Senju he encountered.

When he tears the last one open he is utterly careful. There's family there.

The homogeneity of Uchiha people's appearance hasn't changed.

Their facial shape is similar, although Izuna's lips are fuller

* * *

They have similar hair, but his are long and tied in a low ponytail while this boy's are shorter.

Overall he doesn't see the striking resemblance Madara talked about.

_Madara never understood him anyway._

Those thinner lips, those high cheekbones, those ruffled, spiky hair, that bluish-white skin remind him of Nanashi.

* * *

The temple room is the only place where Izuna hears human voices, even though it's the faint and broken slur of those who sleep.

The Uchiha boy is the calmest one. At times he opens his mouth but makes no sound.

_As if what he wants to express can't be said._

There is only one word that comes out of his lips.

A word Izuna knows well.

_A word that comes back to haunt Izuna's heart with sweet and painful memories and fill his mind with questions. Would Nanashi be pale and lithe as this boy? Would his hair be still short or would he let them grow like his older brothers? Would his voice be similar to the one he is growing more and more accustomed to, each time he says 'niisan'?_

Izuna estimates that his descendant is approximately five years younger than him.

_Just like Nanashi._

It's only natural to be curious, he tells himself as he cracks the cocoon open a little more, moving carefully so that the vital support provided by the tree won't be interrupted.

* * *

There is nothing that a trained sharingan can't do, his father used to say.

It's true: Izuna is easily able to open the boy's eye and  _see_.

Peace and tranquility. A house. A family. A brother.

_His name is Sasuke but his features, his voice, his personality, everything is identical to Nanashi._

Betrayal, fear, death.

_An Uchiha –his beloved older brother –destroyed the clan he was destined to guide._

_He can't even imagine Nanashi in Sasuke's position, all alone, surviving his clan, betrayed by the one he trusted most._

Solitude, revenge.

_Would Nanashi have become stronger with the sole purpose of destroying him or he would have moved on?_

_Would his little brother have killed him as well?_

Despair, longing, an all-consuming rage.

_His brother loved him all along. He protected him just like he had protected Nanashi._

_Sasuke chose to avenge Itachi, all alone against the world. Nanashi would have done the same._

An encounter that changes everything. Love and a faint hope that only lasts for a moment.

_Sasuke met Itachi in Edo Tensei form. He didn't care if he was dead. He only wanted to be with him._

_Izuna hates his Edo Tensei form. He hates his unnaturally colored eyes and the dulled senses._

_Seeing how Sasuke didn't even notice his brother's monster-like characteristics makes him feel worthy and human again._

The last thing he sees in Sasuke's memories is Madara's frame.

How ironic that the last person he saw before dying was the same one.

* * *

Izuna doesn't like the grayish foggy light of the outside world.

He doesn't like its dull mockery of life.

_A life that looks like death, something he is familiar with._

_He has been dead for too long that he has become death._

_The boy is life instead; a dark, passionate fire._

_A fire that burns too close to his dead skin._

He just doesn't see the resemblance with Sasuke that even Hashirama talked about.

There both lived in the shadow of a stronger sibling but Izuna could have surpassed him. He just decided to maintain the clan's traditions.

They both lived for their older brother, for whom they were ready to sacrifice everything, but for Izuna it was duty. If he could have chosen, if Nanashi wouldn't have died, he would have sacrificed for him, instead of bestowing his strength to someone who preferred to join forces with the enemy instead of defeating them.

Both were loyal, but Izuna's loyalty was for the clan and Sasuke's was for  _just one_ , who left him alone, telling him lies to keep him safe, feeding him hate to make him stronger.

Izuna knows what it's like to lose his most important person.

He knows even better what it's like to protect him.

_The pain never left him; he just buried it under his sense of duty, devoting himself to the other siblings, until only Madara remained for him to sacrifice for._

The seed of an idea, from the back of Izuna's mind, grows bigger and stronger the more he thinks about it, until he can't let go of it anymore.

Sasuke is Nanashi's reincarnation.

Therefore, Itachi was his reincarnation.

Their soul is the same. Both selfless, both sacrificial, both willing to do anything to protect their brothers, Izuna reflects, finally feeling like he has a purpose.

* * *

Dreams reveal the dreamer's true self, untainted by the struggles and compromises that reality forces to face.

There is no technique for connecting to someone nested in a cocoon, dreaming.

The only thing Izuna knows for certain is that life support is provided by a thin branch inserted to the base of the neck.

He finds Sasuke's sword and memorizes his lingering residuals of its owner. His sharingan and his perfect chakra control do the rest.

Sasuke's dream world is the transparent future he imagined as a child: peace, a village to belong, a prosper clan, a happy family.

No massacre, no revenge, no revolution.

Being appointed in the Police Force. His father, the chief, finally proud of him.

Itachi leaving Anbu. The two brothers finally working together as a team.

No Uchiha supremacy, no war.

The same thing that Nanashi would have dreamt.

Izuna didn't have the freedom to envision something so simple and at the same time so complicated.

He knew how different reality was so he only allowed himself to think about what was needed instead of what he wanted.

He didn't even know what he wanted; instead, he knew that the Uchiha victory would mean ending the war. Sacrificing for the clan meant sacrificing for peace.

Izuna saw Sasuke's memories of Itachi. He, too, dreamt nothing but peace, until everything changed.

If Izuna had been in Itachi's place, having to choose between the clan and Nanashi's life, he too would have chosen to keep his little brother alive and safe and pure, no matter what  _he_  had to endure.

He can't help but acknowledge that his nature hasn't changed with his rebirth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is strongly influenced by my non Naruto passions, such as science fiction. I love every kind of narration where reality is questioned and there are multiple, parallel ones, like Jorge Luis Borges's works, or movies like Matrix, Dark City, Source Code, Inception, Interstellar and Cloud Atlas.
> 
> Those who have seen the movie Inception might find out that I quoted it. 
> 
> My characterization of Izuna is a little different from the others I saw.
> 
> Usually he is portrayed as another Sasuke, for his attitude, or another Itachi, for his final sacrifice. I tend to see him as arrogant and confident in battle, confident in Madara's ability and very fond of him as well, but I don't see his love for him as something as strong and complex as Sasuke's love for Itachi, nor I see his sacrificing his eyes for Madara as something as selfless and strong, again, as Itachi's sacrifice. I see it more like a duty on his side, for the good of Madara and the clan. But this is just my opinion.
> 
> There is something more, the symbolic elements, but I'll come to them later and let you enjoy (hopefully) the story as it is.
> 
> Also, I created an OC. I usually dislike them but Madara and Izuna did have other brothers so little Nanashi makes sense I think. Also, he is cute.


	2. Chapter 2

 

> " _But in dreams I can hear your name_
> 
> _And in dreams we'll meet again"_
> 
> _(Roy Orbison_ _,_ _In Dreams)_

* * *

Sasuke is a good, caring boy.

He waits for Itachi outside the Police Corps building when they don't have shifts together.

He prepares his bath and tends to his wounds.

He likes to impress him so he trains hard, even in this reality.

The way he looks at his brother  _–with admiration and infinite love –_ is the same Nanashi had for him.

_With a slight difference that Izuna can't explain yet._

The way the elder looks at Sasuke – _with protectiveness and infinite love_  –must  _surely_  be the same he had for Nanashi, that's why Izuna thinks it's completely right to connect further.

Itachi is but a projection of Sasuke's hopes and desires. It's his subconscious that created him, just like everyone living in his inner world.

* * *

There is nothing a sharingan can't do, yet the first time it feels strange to enter slowly and silently into the main figure of the boy's dream.

Izuna is breaking into a private property, after all.

_He has broken into Sasuke's memories and dreams already, but interacting with him is something else._

It's not just that: this world, this other plane of existence, is more real than he imagined.

He finds himself in a street. Children pass him by; one trips over a fruits' basket in a shop.

His friends laugh while the owner scolds him for being careless but ends up giving him an apple after he apologizes.

Birds chirp in the distance.

Every sound is new to his ear, and yet habitual. It's the sound of a village.

No longer bound to the Edo Tensei body's poor senses, Izuna feels the warmth of the sun on his skin.

He feels the clothes hanging on his body in a distinct way compared to those he used in the past.

He sees his reflection in a window, wearing a shinobi uniform and a vest with the Uchiha Police Corps symbol.

_He hates his body, its bleaker color, the black sclera in his eyes that make him similar to a demon._

_He was considered attractive once, more than Madara. It was a weakness._

_He hated when his enemies made fun of him calling him 'pretty boy'. He wasn't weak._

_He was a strong shinobi. He could have been the strongest._

Seeing Sasuke exit the police headquarters, descend the stairs and head towards him Izuna freezes.

_His mouth is moving but Izuna can't focus on his words because he is afraid of being recognized and chased out of Sasuke's world, and he doesn't want to go away, not now that he experienced the sun and the noise and everything that's forever gone._

"Niisan, are you alright? You look pale…"

Izuna is forced to turn when Sasuke touches his shoulder.

_How strange it is to be called big brother again after so many years._

_How strange it is to look at his own reflection while everyone, even the boy in front of him, sees someone else._

_How strange it is to meet again, in a different time, in a different place, in a different body._

_How strange it is to be able to look past the superficial differences and similarities, towards what lies beneath them, eternal._

* * *

They spend the afternoon at home.

Their father is tending the garden. They give him a hand, following the man's instructions.

Then, their mother brings them something to drink and they end up chatting about this and that, with their parents occasional praising both of them for their successes.

Sasuke prepares the bath for him and when he is finished it's dinner time.

Before going to his bedroom Sasuke lingers on Itachi's door.

He seemed a little absent-minded today, he says. He hopes nothing is wrong.

"If something is bothering you please tell me. I want to help you, niisan."

_You helped me already by letting me in your wonderful dream._

Nothing is bothering him, Itachi replies with a smile as he ruffles his hair.

_Like Izuna used to do a long time ago._

Once alone Itachi closes his eyes to sleep and Izuna wakes up to his reality, a world where everyone is asleep in a cocoon while a handful of dead shinobi and an infinite legion of trees replaced the living.

A world that Izuna hates deeply.

* * *

His Edo Tensei body not needing food or rest he experiments his influence in Sasuke's world.

In dreams everything is possible but the dreamer doesn't realize it. He ignores it's a dream thus he is bound to arbitrary rules. He would be almighty if he knew that he has infinite possibilities because his world is not real.

Unlike Sasuke, Izuna knows.

He only needs to think about something –a cup of tea, a sudden rainfall, a change in the trajectory of a kunai –for it to just be.

He changes the surroundings a few times when everybody is sleeping, but he turns everything to its previous state when it's time to wake up.

_Nanashi's world is perfect. There is no need to change it._

* * *

Izuna breaks the connection only to guard the area around their base as he has been assigned.

_Izuna is loyal to Madara. He won't betray his trust, even if his older brother made more errors than he can count._

As soon as he is over with his duty he returns to the temple room where the four cocoons are waiting for him.

His body slumps over the armrests of the ample chair he brought here from his private quarters.

After only a single touch his mind is able to connect and breeze in Sasuke's dream.

_His mother used to say that connecting with others was his best ability. Then he only lived for fighting and he decided that the only connection with others he needed was by the tip of his blade._

It's a natural, comforting action, like slipping into a cozy warm bed on a cold winter night.

Sasuke is the light of Izuna's life, albeit for the boy who was once named Nanashi he is Itachi.

_But he is._

_Izuna's soul was born again in Itachi, whose soul returned into Izuna's Edo Tensei self, who is now living Sasuke's dream as Itachi, thus closing the circle._

* * *

One summer afternoon the brothers are strolling by the forest surrounding the village, the fresh scent of pines, the chirping of birds and cicadas following their steps, until they reach a secluded cliff.

Itachi takes the most external spot so that Sasuke will be able to safely admire Konoha from above.

_He used to do it with Nanashi as well. He used to walk under the trees the boy liked to climb so that he could catch him if he fell._

The sun is slowly replaced by a half moon; under its pale light they talk.

Sasuke recounts how much he disliked teamwork as a genin, when he had incompetent team mates and boring missions. When he became chuunin and teams changed it got a little better, he adds, but he couldn't wait to become a jounin.

Now that he is one and he entered the Police Corps. He finally made it to be in a team with him.

His dream has come true, he mutters with an uncharacteristically shy expression.

_And something else that Izuna can't tell yet._

Itachi smiles, swallowing a lump in his throat, for this was also his dream.

_Seeing his little brother grow strong and have him by his side has always been his dream._

"Do you believe in reincarnation, Sasuke?"

He blurts to the boy's puzzled look.

_Sasuke never thought about it. Not in the Eternal Tsukuyomi, not in his previous reality._

_A past life was irrelevant. A future life a luxury he couldn't afford, an unnecessary and dangerous thought that would have weakened him with hope._

_He needed to focus on the life he was living. The only one he had. The life of an avenger._

"Don't you think it is possible for our souls to have already met in a previous life, in a different body, in a different time, with the faint awareness of the other's existence as only constant in an ever changing reality, that pulled these souls towards opposite directions, while they pushed back to find the perfect balance they were born in, constantly seeking for the other, fighting pain, sorrow, solitude and longing, until they were graced to be born together once again, in this life?"

His eyes are shining, his hands mimicking the flowing of time as he speaks with such passion that Sasuke, who has never seen this side of him, needs a moment to collect his thoughts before replying.

"I am not a philosopher like you but…I think it's possible."

He encircles Itachi's shoulders with his arms.

"Thank you…for being born again, niisan."

He buries his face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling his brother's nape as his embrace becomes tighter and his voice lower as he repeats his heartfelt words, while Izuna struggles to keep the boy's previous name to himself.

* * *

The hardest moments are when Madara comes back.

Izuna can't stay with Sasuke then; he must listen to his older brother and superior in rank, he must reply to his questions, help him with random tasks whose point he doesn't even understand.

He must exist in the here and now.

_Here is a gigantic tree house in a silent world._

_Now is a deathly still time when nothing happens anymore._

"You should come with us, see the outside world." Madara suggests.

"Outside there is nothing," Izuna replies, "and no one."

Behind his mask of calm deference he is anxious to be alone again, to return to  _that_  world, where he is not alone.

In a not yet defined future, the Uchiha elder hypothesizes to wake the four individuals kept in the temple, so that Senju and Uchiha would live again.

At first he reprimands Izuna for having torn the cocoons even if it's just a little damage.

_Except for Sasuke, whose pale face and delicate neck and well-defined shoulders are exposed, so much that Madara checks if the branch is still inserted and the life support is still functioning._

He ends up thanking his brother for taking care of them.

_What Izuna did is strange indeed but who is he to judge? He brought him back from the dead but discarded him in their solitary, eerie base, once he has turned his lifelong rival and friend into his lover._

"I can always count on you," he says and Izuna knows he means it.

Despite hating this world he doesn't hate Madara. The respect for the head of the clan is too ingrained in him.

 _He could have taken his place –they activated Mangekyou Sharingan the same day, after all –and_   _guided them all to a different victory._

_He would have never fraternized with an enemy like Madara did with Hashirama._

_He would have never forgiven those who killed Nanashi._

It's not just a moral obligation though.

Madara chose to bring him, among all people, back from the dead.

He assigned him to guard their base, to protect the cocoons. To protect Sasuke.

Madara acted like the hand of destiny pulling the red string of fate: he brought him back to see Nanashi again.

* * *

Senju people are lively even in their sleep; they mumble and move, making muffled noises from inside their nest.

Izuna becomes more and more knowledgeable of the Infinite Tsukuyomi's workings.

He learns that he can't control its people, for they are projections of Sasuke's memories of them.

_They are also an expression of Sasuke's feelings and needs, but that's harder to grasp._

It's just a minuscule difference that only –the only one awake in a dream –perceives, but the three Senju are more vivid than the others, just like he and Sasuke, the lucid dreamer and the real dreamer, are.

It must be caused by their proximity to Sasuke's cocoon.

A part of their strong chakra, maybe a part of their souls, is seeping through their own personal universes, reaching Sasuke's.

The woman is the Hokage. She equally supports every institution, making sure that the Police Corps participate in joint missions with Anbu and shinobi squads, so that no one overpowers the other. She frequently visits the Uchiha compound in a relaxed, informal manner, respecting the clan elders and being sincerely friendly with Mikoto and Fugaku Uchiha.

_In Sasuke's dream his family is not discriminated. They are in good terms with the Hokage, thus with the whole village._

_Tsunade represents peace and the trust his clan never had._

The girl with glasses, whom Sasuke recruited for her sensing abilities when he seeked revenge against Itachi, in this reality was in his chuunin team. She seems in love with him. She is not the only one; there is also an apprentice medic from his former genin team that tries to win the boy's affection. Sasuke avoids this one though, while he treats the other with respect.

_In Sasuke's dream he didn't spend his life trying to kill the one who loved him the most then trying to avenge him, silencing the voice inside him saying that it was his fault, not someone else's, saying that if only he had looked closer he would have seen the truth behind Itachi's actions._

_In his peaceful dream the terrible thoughts that haunted him are buried deep under happy memories of their imaginary life together._

_Sadly, guilt is a tough enemy, able to creep out of its confinement, so even if in this reality Sasuke never used this girl as a decoy to kill Danzo, hurting her and leaving her for dead, he unconsciously perceives her as an innocent victim._

_Karin, sacrificed in Itachi's name but still able to forgive him, represents the absolution Sasuke never granted himself for having killed Itachi._

The blond boy is Sasuke's best friend and rival.

They were in the same genin team. Noisy and careless, he is loved by everyone.

With Sasuke it's different; he often challenges him to everything that comes to his mind. Even if Sasuke calls him dumb he accepts the competition. They are young, after all. There are no wars, no deaths. They still have time to play.

_In his dream Sasuke never left Konoha and Naruto never chased after him. They are simply friends, they have been friends since they were little children because their mothers were friends as well. They have grown up together. They have gone to academy, passed the exams, caught cats and stupid animals as first missions, been wounded and got back on their feet._

_They have done the ordinary things friends do._

_Naruto represents the normal life Sasuke never had._

* * *

In his Infinite Tsukuyomi Sasuke is well integrated in the village, like his clan.

He has friends and a normal life, but nothing and no one is important as Itachi.

Itachi is Sasuke's whole life. He was his whole life before being captured by Madara, he is now.

Itachi represents everything Sasuke wanted.

Itachi  _is_  Sasuke's dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Izuna changing the surroundings I was inspired by the 90s movie Dark City.  
> I always imagined Sasuke's hypothetical Infinite Tsukuyomi as a simple, peaceful, perfect life for his clan and especially for him and Itachi.
> 
> I imagined that characters like Tsunade, Karin and Naruto, in Sasuke's subconscious might have this kind of meaning, in this particular context. Peace, forgiveness (for having almost killed her, for having killed Itachi) and a normal life.
> 
> Also, the very old song I quoted gives the whole thing a Quentin Tarantino movie vibe, in my opinion. I think it's taken from some old movie but I can't remember which one.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the end of the fic I'll explain the layers of meaning that the story and its character have. Until then I hope you'll enjoy the plot.
> 
> Things get darker here.

 

> " _All that we see or seem_
> 
> _Is but a dream within a dream."_
> 
> _(Edgar Allan Poe)_

* * *

Izuna can't remember when the voices in the temple room started irritating him.

He used to consider them as a company before being annoyed at how often they mumble Sasuke's name.

He wonders what they are dreaming of and why his brother is there.

He wonders if they will disrupt the harmony of the boy's dream –his dream.

_Is it not?_

_He always nurtured and supported his brothers, only dreaming what they dreamt of. Is it different now?_

_Is he sharing the same dream as Sasuke because he is Nanashi's reincarnation or is he having a dream of his own because this boy is Sasuke Uchiha before being Nanashi Uchiha?_

He envies them because they are asleep, free to live in the world they chose for themselves, just like Sasuke, while there are times when his duties force him away in a world he loathes.

_He stopped thinking he doesn't belong in that world after that Sasuke embraced him under the stars._

The more he listens to them talking in their sleep, the more he  _knows_  they are a threat to the harmony of  _their_   world.

Not only their chakra is seeping through; also their feelings and needs are.

The need to tame Sasuke. The need to have Sasuke. The need to surpass Sasuke.

He understands all this from their broken mutters.

He sees what others can't because connecting with people is one of his greatest gifts, as his mothers used to say.

_He didn't know what she meant back then, and he never considered knowing so much about people a gift._

_Besides, he never verified if what he knew was true. He knew it was anyway._

Moving the cocoons is impossible, just as keeping the three Senju away from his brother.

The only thing he can do is make Sasuke understand.

They are his projections. He is the only one who can make them go away.

Being his little brother he will listen to him, like Nanashi always did.

Izuna knows best. He lived longer –he lived twice.

He knows what's good for him and these people are not.

* * *

Izuna wants Sasuke to see them in same way he does.

Itachi is indirect at first but as the younger doesn't get it, he moves to half-joking, half-serious remarks that Sasuke shrugs off, visibly bored at the topic.

_He doesn't care much about people so he is not observant of them._

_He doesn't see what Izuna sees. Not yet._

_Sasuke's words, his look –that suggests he wants something different, something more –prove that he only cares about Itachi._

_Izuna takes advantage of this._

It's not hard to convince him that the friendly Tsunade Senju is secretly planning Itachi's assassination.

He is the strongest member of the clan, eliminating him means submitting them all, the elder explains with his usual calm demeanor, while Sasuke's face is painted with fear, horror and anger.

Izuna employs the same words Obito used to describe Konoha's situation before the massacre, to appeal to the memories buried in the most unconscious part of his soul and it works: with no evidence whatsoever, despite the perfect world they are living in, the boy is overwhelmed by a sudden fear of losing his brother.

_Of losing everything. It's like a black mass that clutches at his heart, burning and freezing it at the same time, growing bigger and bigger, threatening to eat him all from within._

Without warning –yet he  _is_ there, hidden, watching his every move, the only man awake in a dream –Sasuke enters the Hokage's office like a fury, killing the Anbu guards who try to stop him.

He doesn't believe the  _excuses_  the woman repeats over and over; he kills her in a fit of rage, for no one must touch his brother.

No one must even dare talk about his brother.

_A weird sense of déjà-vu makes him feel lightheaded._

Itachi comes get him out of danger; he is not shocked to see Tsunade's chest pierced by lightning.

He casts a genjutsu around the building to make sure no one saw or heard anything, then he gestures his brother to follow.

In their special place by the cliff the elder lectures Sasuke for his careless, foolish act.

Then he thanks him. No one ever risked everything for him before.

_It was always Izuna who sacrificed everything for someone else's sake._

The adrenaline rush over, Sasuke is breathless and confused, because this is not the cruel life he came from, even if he forgot it, and the way he reacted is unlike anything he experienced in his Infinite Tsukuyomi so far.

He is only sure of one thing: he needs Itachi. He can't lose him.

"I won't let anyone hurt you, niisan."

He states solemnly, not yet sounding as strong and confident as he would like to.

Itachi hugs him tight. He can feel the boy's heart racing fast then slow down with every breath, between his arms.

When he is calmer the elder lets go of him, but something changes his mind.

_Sasuke's frail look, so similar to Nanashi's._

Instead of moving away he closes the distance one more time, bumping their foreheads –the boy looks tense again, his eyes open wide –before chastely placing his lips on Sasuke's.

When Izuna awakens there is blood dripping from Tsunade's cocoon.

The woman is dead.

* * *

When Izuna returns to Sasuke's dream world the Hokage has always been an old Sarutobi and Tsunade never existed.

It's what he wished for: people disappearing without a trace, their harmony not disrupted.

It's impossible to reenact the same situation though, just as it's impossible to convince Sasuke that Karin is dangerous.

Izuna can't reveal the lewd way she murmurs his brother's name in her sleep, a clear sign of having dirty dreams about him.

 _Karin is dreaming of helping the one she loves achieve his dreams, without a single thought for her personal gain._   _Her soul is pure and Izuna could touch her cocoon and see it, but he is too engrossed in his own preconceptions to use the empathy his mother praised him for._

 _Itachi_  warns Sasuke that Karin's low morals and indecent behavior will taint him if they keep being friends.

The boy doesn't agree. He knows her better than Itachi, although clingy the Uzumaki girl is a reliable and loyal comrade. Following his reasoning shouldn't Sakura or Ino, who revealed him their unrequited feelings, be more dangerous than her?

Besides, even if he were right, private thoughts are just thoughts.

_Izuna sees that Sasuke knows what it feels like to have private thoughts that he can't express._

Thoughts are never just thoughts, Itachi explains. Thoughts influence actions. Thoughts corrupt souls.

"No matter what she may have in mind she did nothing to you. Please, let her be," Sasuke rebukes.

_Is he defending her or himself?_

His eyes reflect love and admiration yet he is not listening to him.

_Nanashi would have never doubted his older brother's judgment._

Itachi's long bangs dance around his face as Izuna shakes his head at Sasuke's naivete.

_Can't he see he's trying to help him? These people are weak and morally low._

_They want to control him._

_They want to possess him._

_They want to overpower him._

_But isn't it what Izuna is trying to do as well? A voice in the back of his mind asks, but he is quick to reply that it is not._

_Izuna is acting for Sasuke's good. Izuna knows how low people can get. Especially Senju people._

_He knows that they won't stop until the boy is debased so that they can say they're better than him._

_Sasuke is an Uchiha; he doesn't need them. He is above them._

_Sasuke is like him –in fact he is better. He is young and pure and naïve like Nanashi._

_He must stay this way. Izuna must keep him this way._

_Whether he likes it or not._

* * *

Izuna stops explaining patiently and starts acting colder every time Karin is around.

He changes shifts and becomes unavailable at home, completely avoiding Sasuke if they shared more than a simple greeting.

More often than not he belittles Sasuke's abilities. No matter how capable he is, if he were smarter he wouldn't miss what's obvious to Itachi.

_Izuna knows Sasuke's weaknesses. He knows that even if in his Infinite Tsukuyomi Sasuke is happy and his abilities have been acknowledged, the constant insecurity for not being strong enough, not being good enough, not being as perfect as Itachi, is still inside him and is words are finely cut to bring to surface the strife he buried deep down inside._

Sasuke hates being controlled; his old untamable self is not completely forgotten. The more the elder insists on ordering him around, the more he, like a typical younger brother, insists on not obeying.

It's not hard to see that behind the boy's mask of bitterness and explosive anger there are deep wounds and pain caused by  _Itachi's_  malicious words.

Izuna hates being cruel to Sasuke. When he hurts the boy the hit strikes him back too.

_Sasuke loves Itachi more than anyone else, why can't he just obey?_

_He doesn't love Karin and he can't love freedom –of choosing the wrong path - more than Itachi. If he did he wouldn't have devoted his whole life to his brother._

_Does a part of him sense that the brother bad-mouthing him is not the Itachi he grew up with in the real world?_

_Is he unconsciously reacting against him, thinking he's a stranger and not Itachi's timeless soul?_

_Could Nanashi –Sasuke's own timeless soul –have recognized the brother who raised him?_

_Then shouldn't he obey precisely because it's Izuna commanding him, or would he disobey just to subvert the order he arbitrarily set so that their masks would drop?_

* * *

It's an unfortunate accident when Karin dies during a joint mission.

The enemies were too many and Sasuke couldn't pay attention to everyone.

She was pushed away; no one could have known how deep that ravine was.

_Creating a precipice out of plain lands was nothing for the only one awake in a dream._

She knew what she risked when she became a shinobi. They can die anytime, this is how life goes, Itachi tells Sasuke as they come back from her funeral.

_The black fabric of his clothes contrasts with his pale skin, making him look younger and fragile. Just like him._

Unlike Izuna's sweet little brother Sasuke demands to be left alone.

_He feels that something is off. He knows Karin's death was an accident but he feels too guilty for it._

_It's like he already felt that way, even though he can't remember in what occasion._

_Itachi's words are platitudes. Not what he would expect from such a considerate, caring, perfect being._

Izuna doesn't let him. Itachi would not want him to suffer alone and Nanashi would never want to.

Sasuke is not being himself, he is sarcastic and cold. He needs help.

"Of course you don't want me to be upset for her death: you hated her."

He snaps, openly disrespecting his elder brother.

Nanashi would have never acted this way. He would have never accused his caring and selfless brother of being insensitive towards someone's death.

_Even if it's him who caused it._

"How dare you talk back to me after everything I sacrificed for you!"

He spits out angrily, punching the wall so hard that he engraves a crater in its white surface.

Sasuke stares at him in complete bewilderment: in this reality there has been no sacrifice.

In this safe world they are the two strongest Uchiha clan members. They have never seen a war, there has never been discrimination.

Itachi's accusation is not understood by Sasuke's mind but its intensity reaches the dark depths of his soul, where the memory of his sacrifice is still bleeding.

_So much that a gray static-like disturbance appears before his eyes, replacing the walls in his room and the blue sky at the window with an unknown bleakness._

It only lasts a moment before his senses are fully functioning and the room is the same once again.

Everything is as it was before, except for Itachi who is kneeling down on the floor, formally bowing before him, asking for his forgiveness.

Before leaving the room he adds, in a low voice:

"Please, believe me, Sasuke. I just want your happiness."

* * *

Looking at the infinite gray-white forest from the window Izuna wonders if the mere fact that Sasuke is Nanashi's reincarnation gives him the right to control him.

Technically he is not the same boy who died during the heinous destruction of their village at the hands of the Senju clan.

Nanashi was meek and obedient. Sasuke is fierce and independent, even reckless.

Nanashi considered Izuna his whole world but so does Sasuke.

It's the same soul, it only changed its vessel. Just like his own, reborn as Itachi before returning to its first incarnation.

_Izuna diverts his gaze from the window so he won't see his reflection._

_The more he stays in Sasuke's Infinite Tsukuyomi, the more he is Itachi, the less he wants to be in his Edo Tensei body._

Just like him and Itachi, Nanashi and Sasuke are the same person, the Uchiha reassures himself.

Older brothers know best; he has the right to control him. He has the duty to control him.

It's for his own good.

* * *

Although Sasuke can't sleep that night he stays in his room.

If he went to Itachi's, like he used to do as a child every time he had a nightmare, he wouldn't find Izuna.

Would he spot the difference, upset as he is?

_In the flicker of gray static Sasuke saw Itachi wobbling towards him, looking sick and pale._

_He was grabbing his chest. His hand covered his mouth as he coughed; blood was trickling through his fingers._

_He was dying. Sasuke didn't know how or why but he knew._

_His brother was dying in front of him and he couldn't do anything._

_The pain was unbearable and so the guilt…as if he was responsible._

_Overwhelmed by unknown feelings he had closed his eyes._

_When he had opened them again Itachi was gone and a stranger with plump lips and long messy hair tied in a low ponytail was formally bowing in front of him._

* * *

When the time comes to eliminate Naruto things are even harder.

Izuna can't claim he wants to harm him for the blond is fond of Itachi. Despite having his own family in this reality they grew up together and he considers the two Uchiha almost as his siblings.

Accusing him of having inappropriate thoughts doesn't work either: everybody knows he loves Sakura.

What's peculiar is Sasuke's reaction. When Itachi talked about Karin he wasn't as embarrassed as he is now.

Is it because Sasuke is attracted to males or is it because he is attracted to Naruto?

There is no attraction: Sasuke's pupils don't dilate and he doesn't blush or lower his gaze when he meets Naruto's eyes.

Nevertheless, jealousy is killing Izuna.

_Jealousy is for lower beings, not for him. Itachi is not jealous. Izuna is not jealous._

_He is only protecting his little precious brother's purity._

Itachi's following lectures are humiliating. He viciously condemns Sasuke's supposedly disgusting preferences, lingering on lecherous details that the boy knows nothing of.

It hurts more than he can express to imagine his brother engaging in such indecent acts, yet he can't stop.

The boy denies, answers back, fires all his verbal weapons. He just doesn't like Naruto that way.

Slightly blushing he lowers his gaze instead of looking directly  _at him_.

"But you like him, and that's enough,"  _Itachi_  doesn't pick the clue, too engrossed in his own perception.

Izuna identifies in the Uzumaki boy the toughest enemy for their harmony.

He must be disposed of, no matter the cost.

Itachi tells Sasuke that his so-called best friend has always been envious of him.

Their rivalry is not a healthy competition.

Naruto wants to bring him down so that he will have all the attention.

* * *

The more Sasuke objects Itachi's words, the crueler the elder becomes.

It becomes a habit to state that Sasuke doesn't see Naruto's faults because he is not insightful, smart, good enough.

That person's company is turning him into a weak shinobi, unworthy of the Uchiha name.

"Unworthy of me."

Itachi's voice is cold and sharp as a razor on Sasuke's pale wrists.

He has been required in Suna; he will leave the house, Konoha, and him, if his brother doesn't cut ties with the blond.

_Sasuke can't lose his everything again, he incoherently thinks between ragged breaths, sudden panic biting at him because he doesn't remember Itachi running away from him but the fear of what happened outside of the memories of his lifetime in the Infinite Tsukuyomi is real, as much as the world he can see and touch._

* * *

Izuna is forced to spend some time with Madara; when he is back into Sasuke's dream world his brother has just returned from a successful joint mission with former Team 7.

Itachi interrogates Sasuke about every detail. He is so caught up into his jealousy that he can't see anything beyond.

_It is not jealousy, he repeats himself. It's his duty to save Nanashi's soul and Sasuke's body from corruption._

Tired of being questioned Sasuke growls: "What the hell do you need to get this over with?"

It's what Izuna was waiting for.

Itachi straightens his back and lowers his tone, looking at his brother with a stern expression.

"Eliminate him."

He reveals the true power of the Uchiha clan, only obtainable through Mangekyou Sharingan.

_There is no need for such power, such sacrifice in the world Sasuke dreams of, the same dream he had as a child, when the Sharingan is more than enough and he had no knowledge of Mangekyou Sharingan or Amaterasu._

That power will make him as strong as Itachi. It will make Sasuke worth of him, at last.

_Izuna saw Itachi through Sasuke's memories._

_He is capable of recreating his appearance, of enacting his voice and movements._

_He heard Obito revealing the truth about him. He knows his feelings, hopes and fears._

_He can even feel them, he has that gift. He knows what it's like to sacrifice for a loved one, after all._

_The voice inside of him –the same that calls him monster every time he crosses his reflection –claims he doesn't feel what Itachi felt. That he is only mimicking those feelings. That Itachi's selfless and eternal love didn't expect anything in return, while Izuna wants Sasuke's obedience and devotion._

_That Izuna wants Sasuke's soul._

_That voice doesn't reach him in the dream world; he makes sure to stay there as long as he can._

Reality is the most effective trigger. Izuna repeats the same words that haunted Sasuke for years, when Itachi had to convince him that his beloved brother was a monster. He doesn't forget to imply that he was the one who killed Shisui.

_Wasn't Shisui alive in the boy's dream world? Didn't they talk only a few days before?_

_It doesn't matter now, for his cousin is dead. It was easy to kill off a marginal character, not unlike modifying the surroundings while everyone is asleep._

_Izuna is the only one awake in a dream. He is almighty._

_And Sasuke's mind is weaker than before._

Sasuke refuses categorically. The idiot blond doesn't deserve to die and he doesn't need Mangekyou Sharingan if this means killing a comrade.

Hasn't Kakashi said that those who abandon their comrades are scum?

_How strange that he can't remember when his old sensei said such thing._

Sasuke grew up as a proud Uchiha shinobi but this is a peaceful world. He has always looked up to his brother the prodigy, the wise, selfless person who loved peace more than everything else.

_Maybe even more than him…even if he can't understand where this thought came from._

He can't believe that Itachi just asked him to kill his childhood friend in cold blood.

He can't believe that Itachi killed his cousin and best friend.

Sasuke sounds like a desperate child pleading not to be scared again when he swears that he won't talk to Naruto anymore, that he won't even work with him anymore, but Itachi is unmovable.

It's too late for promises. The young Uchiha defied his older brother for too long.

Now he must obey or prepare to be an only son.

* * *

_Why does Sasuke feel as if the world is spinning?_

_Why does he see that gray static again?_

_Why do inexplicable foreign images of the Uchiha compound covered in blood and corpses flood his mind?_

_Why is his brother wearing a dark cloak with red clouds, why is he staring down at him with cold eyes?_

When the images disappear Sasuke looks lost.

His body moves on his own; his hand surrounds itself with chidori's electricity.

Then, he launches at Itachi.

Izuna is unfazed by Sasuke's attack. He knows exactly how to stop him.


	4. Chapter 4

 

 

> " _I know a black dream, child"_
> 
> _(The Merry Thoughts, Boy Sinister)_

* * *

Sasuke craves for his brother.

He has been robbed of his presence for so long that even if he is living in a world where they have always been together, the longing for Itachi is still unbearable.

He needs him so much that he doesn't mind being scolded or belittled, no matter how bad it hurts, as long as Itachi stays.

_Deep down inside he knows that he deserves to be punished for having lost the war and the world Itachi wanted to save._

_Deep down inside he knows that he deserves to be punished for having killed the one he loved the most._

Sasuke doesn't mind violence.

There has been so much of it in his life that he doesn't even feel it, and when he does it feels natural like breathing.

He likes it, in fact.

He smirks when Itachi grabs him by the throat and shoves him against the wall, crushing his windpipe.

He becomes hard when Itachi punches his stomach so hard that his vision go black as the air is pushed away from his lungs.

_Sasuke likes everything Itachi gives him, even his fingers choking the life out of him, even his fist twisting in his gut._

_Those touches feel familiar, somehow._

* * *

For Izuna it was strange to find out Sasuke's undeniable attraction for his brother.

_Nanashi was only a child. He couldn't have this kind of feelings._

_He was pure, but when his soul was reborn as Sasuke the massacre and the need for revenge, the strive for strength, the alliance with corrupted beings like Orochimaru and Obito, the contact with Senju descendants and other lowly ones inevitably tainted it._

_Sasuke was left alone in the world with no guide but his poor judgment._

_He dirtied himself because Izuna couldn't be there for him like he had been for Nanashi._

The elder reciprocated the attraction, judging from the close range attacks he used on the younger, so unusual for a genjutsu user.

_Pretexts for touching him._

The thought of his little brother from the past growing up and having sexual desires is unsettling at first, but not for long. Sasuke is attracted to  _him_  –for he is Itachi.

It is exhilarating to realize that this is another kind of power Izuna has over him.

_As if having the power to make him happy or destroy him with a look wasn't already enough._

He should have understood it earlier by how he looked at him, how he touched him every time he could, how he blushed when they bathed together.

Even now Sasuke could kick him if he wanted to, he could use chidori again, but he doesn't.

There's a mirror at their side.

Being the only one awake in a dream, Izuna sees his Edo Tensei body but for once he doesn't care.

He finds weirdly appealing the idea that while he sees his long spiky ponytail, his rounded cheekbones and big, almost feminine eyes, Sasuke sees Itachi's straight silky hair, high cheekbones and elongated eyes.

He can't be jealous of Itachi because he is Itachi, so he looks at his reflection, hunched over his brother pressed against the wall, bangs covering his face, mouth gasping for air, hands helplessly around the arm gripping his throat.

The awareness that he is Izuna and Itachi, the realization the nature of Sasuke's need for him and the sight before his eyes unleash in the Uchiha an intoxicating sensation of power, and that power makes him feel aroused.

Still clawing his throat, still impaling his abdomen, Itachi closes Sasuke's mouth with his own.

The boy opens his eyes wide and moans –of pain or pleasure Izuna can't tell.

He only feels the younger's lower body trying to arch against him, begging him to  _go deeper_   _inside him_.

* * *

Their relationship becomes carnal.

Izuna gets over his initial unease thinking that it's a natural evolution: they have been solely brothers first and now that they found themselves again they are exploring another side of the many-sided feeling called love, for what they have is nothing but love.

Even if he learns how effective it is to appeal to the young Uchiha's libido to keep him close while at the same time satisfying his own previously unknown desires.

Even if he wields pleasure like a drug to get the boy addicted, and that weapon is fiery and intense, like the dark all-consuming flames that the two brothers mastered in their imperfect reality.

Izuna's jealousy doesn't quench, in fact he becomes more possessive than ever, and more easily angered.

He doesn't feel guilty either: because Sasuke is blind to people's real intentions Izuna must teach him.

Because he's arrogant, thinking he knows everything already, Izuna must punish him.

_Because he missed his brother his whole life and would do anything to have him by his side, Sasuke doesn't notice that the real Itachi would not make him kill a comrade in this peaceful world, so different from the one where Itachi had to act like a monster so that Sasuke could be safe._

_When we are dreaming everything feels real._

_It's only when we wake up that we realize that something is strange._

_Thus Sasuke doesn't realize that the Itachi who spreads his legs to impossible angles and bites his creamy thighs until he draws blood is the same person who called him disgusting for a suspected attraction for another male; that the man who makes him wear a collar as a punishment and keeps him on a leash for days, naked, gagged, crawling on all fours, is the same brother who said he would always protect him._

Izuna knows that Sasuke is masochistic.

More often than not he deliberately defies him. It's like he begs to punished. The stronger the better.

He incites the elder to hit harder, to cut deeper, to pound into him faster.

* * *

After their heated sessions his body is littered with all kinds of marks and bruises.

_Izuna always makes them disappear. He doesn't like to see his baby brother's beautiful features marred._

_It makes him look like he has been abused and he hasn't._

_It's Sasuke who called for this. If he behaved Izuna would never hurt him._

It's with a mixture of excitement and fear that he welcomes Itachi's touches.

_Anything is fine as long as he has Itachi's mouth. It doesn't matter if it's a kiss or a bite._

_Anything is fine as long as he has Itachi's hands roaming over him. It doesn't matter if they're tracing the ridges and hollows of his chest or choking him._

_Anything is fine as long as he has Itachi's body above him –inside him._

_Physical pain doesn't hurt as much as his brother's words anyway._

_Physical pain is never enough for someone who killed his brother and destroyed his dream for the future._

* * *

Izuna's tortures are never just physical, for his brother is a stubborn, disobedient one.

He threatens to leave forever and Sasuke begs him to stay. He looks like a frightened child, until he falls on his knees and acts like an experienced slave, ready to fulfill his master's whims.

_He becomes so good at sucking the elder off, swirling his tongue up and down his cock, taking it all in his mouth, massaging his balls while looking up with a sensual yet naïve look that betrays his eagerness to please Itachi, that Izuna starts wondering whether the boy had previous experiences._

_He becomes so obsessed with this thought that he stops to beat Sasuke up. When he deems it's enough he places the aching younger on the bed, bending his head backwards over the edge._

_Standing over him he admires the stretched curve of his neck, the blue vein bulging and pulsing fast, his dazed look, before keeping his hands still and fucking his face until he's satiated._

 

Their passionate, intense, deranged sex feels like the only way to  _make things right_.

When their bodies and souls are bound by such intimate connection, when pain and pleasure engulf their senses, they glimpse a light of hope, the resolution of a conflict that lasted too long and caused too much damage.

When it's over and their bodies are disconnected they realize that nothing has changed and it's only a matter of time before they plunge themselves into the only temporary relief  _–_ the other's flesh.

_An illusion inside an illusion. A dream within a dream._

When their limbs are not entwined Itachi is cold and distrustful.

_Izuna is so addicted to the power he has over Sasuke that he always finds new ways of exercising it._

_In his mind it's not abuse but dedication to his duty of keeping his precious Nanashi into the right track._

When their limbs are not entwined Sasuke is restless. His look is troubled, his nerves are shaken. He flinches at the faintest touch from his brother yet he comes back to him every single time.

Sasuke is broken. He is addicted to Itachi. He can't live without him.  _His brother's_  manipulations bring out his primal fears: the peaceful and fulfilling life he used to dream has become a black-or-white rollercoaster where he is either high on the elder's positive reinforcement, or down for his cruel reprimands.

His mind is weaker now and his dream is not as perfect as it was.

Some things are off: the succession of day and night is not regular anymore. The weather doesn't follow any rule. Little details are overlooked.

It's up to Izuna, his caring older brother, to arrange everything back to normal.

He doesn't bother fixing the absence of their parents though.

_They are just a projection anyway, unlike Sasuke and Itachi. Unlike Nanashi and Izuna._

* * *

It is a cloudy moonless night when Naruto arrives at their place and  _sees_  them.

Itachi is standing in front of a huge mirror.

_There are mirrors everywhere now. Izuna loves to see himself over Sasuke._

_He loves to know he is the only one awake in dream. Being superior to everyone else is the only way he can accept himself and his Edo Tensei existence._

Sasuke is kneeling before him, hands tied behind his back, Itachi's cock deep into his mouth, his long slender fingers buried into the boy's ruffled hair, moving his head to set the pace.

The blond grimaces with disgust.

"This is sick. You are brothers!"

He spits, as Itachi helps Sasuke stand and frees his wrists, not at all affected by the frantic stream of words the boy showers upon them.

_Naruto coming over after all the time he has been successfully avoided is not a coincidence. It's Izuna's will._

"Do you see it now, Sasuke? I was right. He hates you. He wants to destroy you."

Sasuke is confused but his former best friend's presence is enough for him to gain the confidence he always showed to the world, no matter if he's naked and he has been caught doing inappropriate acts with his brother.

He is about to say something but Itachi touches his shoulder.

"He wants to destroy  _us_."

His brother's dark, sultry voice is barely a whisper but it resounds like a scream in his ears.

"If you love me you can't let that happen."

Sasuke has no choice.

He pierces Naruto's chest with his bare hands.

Unstable as he is, his chidori fails him midway through, electricity not pouring out anymore, leaving him stuck into another human being's warm pulsing flesh, trying not to look into his incredulous eyes as he gurgles his last incoherent words.

The smell of blood invades the room. He pulls his gory hand back and the blond falls on the ground.

"Is this enough, brother?"

The boy mutters, his head low, his palms trembling.

"Are you satisfied now, brother?"

He turns towards Itachi, screaming, throwing himself at him, hitting him blindly and desperately.

In Izuna's eyes he has never been more similar to Nanashi.

Sasuke trusted his big brother's judgment, obeying without questioning.

His soul has been cleansed; he is again his innocent, pure little brother, Izuna thinks as he watches him wailing, unable to stand on his own feet, unable to fight the wave of nausea that assails him.

_This time Sasuke is almost happy at the sight of the gray static; at least he won't see his bloodstained house and his brother standing over a dead body._

_What appears before his eyes is eerily similar though._

_His house at night._

_His mother and his father, both dead._

_His brother looming over them._

Sasuke starts shaking uncontrollably. He's having a seizure.

Izuna hugs him tight. He tells him his that things will be alright now, that harmony has been restored.

They have been through a difficult time but everything is going to change.

He is going to change. He has been harsh but it was for his own good.

Now that he finally obeyed, now that they're finally alone, he will take care of him.

He will make sure that his dream, their dream, will return as perfect as it was supposed to be.

He speaks with the same soothing tone he used when Nanashi had a fever.

Only this time it doesn't work.

Sasuke doesn't calm down; he shakes, opening and closing his mouth, struggling to stutter 'niisan' between each fit.

His gaze hollow, he doesn't see him at all, or he doesn't recognize  _him_ , Izuna fears for a moment, before realizing that his brother's dream is falling apart.

Outside the window the sky changes into unnatural colors, becoming blinding bright then dark as a black hole eating stars exploding in the background.

The walls fade then morph into haphazard surroundings then return as a mixture of all of them.

Suddenly it becomes cold.

* * *

Inside the cocoon Sasuke is shaking, blood dripping from his nose.

He is terribly cold. He's going to die if he stays there.

Izuna acts on impulse. He severs the branch that connects him to the tree and moves him out of it.

He prepares a hot bath to raise his blood heat. He lays the boy on his bed and removes his clothes to keep him warm.

_How ironic that he forgot to be an Edo Tensei. His body is cold as well; he must use chakra to heat himself up before helping Sasuke._

He never stops reassuring Nanashi that his big brother is going to save him.

This time he won't lose him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just can't write anything where the strongest love, isn't between Sasuke and Itachi, be it brotherly or romantically. even though in this fic it's very dark.
> 
> I love unusual pairings, I love power dynamics and I like the idea of the one true pairing being separated by death or distance or taboo and because of this eternal, almost like Middle Ages' courtly love ideal, their love being impossible, but it still resurfaces even if they are paired with someone else. Even more so in that case.
> 
> In this fic Sasuke loves Itachi and desires him. His feelings are pure though.
> 
> It's Izuna who dirties them, using sex as a mean to keep Sasuke attached to him.
> 
> In his IT reality Sasuke is a gifted shinobi with a normal life and his beloved brother by his side, but even if his subconscious buried the tragedy that marked him, it still exists, so that a manipulator like Izuna can easily trigger him, and since the boy doesn't understand where his fears and random memories come from he is mentally weaker than his canon self. Also, Sasuke has a masochistic streak. He feels guilty for having killed Itachi, he is accustomed to violence more than any other character, so I can easily see him accepting "punishment" especially if it comes from someone he trusts.


	5. Chapter 5

 

> " _With relief, with humiliation, with terror, he understood that he also was an illusion, that someone else was dreaming him."_
> 
> _(Jorge Luis Borges, The Circular Ruins)_

* * *

When Sasuke wakes up he can't move. He can't even tilt his head upwards.

_The Shinju tree's life support system keeps people fed but feeds on their chakra in return._

He scans through his memories but all he has is confusion, images and sensations that clash with one another. It's not the time for musing, he decides as he takes in the unknown surroundings within his limited field of vision.

Only after external chakra flows into his system he is able to put himself into a sitting position.

Looking around he spots someone whose unruly pitch black hair styled in a low ponytail, big eyes and plump lips are somehow familiar, even if he doesn't know why.

"I am Madara's brother."

The stranger says, taking a step forward and revealing his distinctive black Edo Tensei eyes and cracked skin.

_Izuna burnt his chakra the whole time so that his body could keep his little brother's warm._

_The cracks in his skin are a consequence of the effort._

"My name is Uchiha Izuna."

_Sasuke remembers that name. Itachi first, then Hashirama, mentioned him._

_His presence means that Madara won._

_It means that he failed Itachi's dream._

_It means that he killed him twice._

Hastily, Sasuke shoves the blanket away, trying to get out of bed, but he collapses on the ground, as his legs are numb for not having moved in months.

Izuna rushes to aid him.

With a little more infused chakra the boy is able to slowly take short steps, leaning on him until he reaches the window, where an expanse of gray-white trees goes as far as the eye can see.

"An eerie view, isn't it? When I first saw it, after I was revived, I thought I was in hell."

Izuna states calmly from only a few inches away, in case Sasuke needs support to stand still.

"I still do, that's why I avoid looking. At night the cocoons look like hanged men."

He adds almost inaudibly.

"It makes you want to never venture outside. To hide inside yourself and make your own reality."

His tone becomes more passionate. He shortens the distance between them.

"But it's not enough because something…someone is missing, and you are afraid because there is no one else but you, which means you're going to be alone forever, until you hear a voice and you find  _someone_ , in his own reality, and as you get closer you hear that his reality is calling you.

It is saying that the only thing missing to make it perfect is you."

It's only when Sasuke's knee touches the wooden panels under the window that he realizes he is naked.

He doesn't know why and he doesn't care. There are more important matters to settle first.

"You hate this place, don't you? Then help me destroy it," he questions Izuna.

His plan is simple. Wake Naruto up, have Kyuubi restore both their chakra, find Madara and defeat him.

_If only Naruto wasn't dead._

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, Sasuke. You are in no condition to fight."

Izuna gently turns Sasuke around. He is slightly taller than him, like Itachi was.

"Because you are loyal to Madara or because you're a coward who can't fight?" The younger growls.

 _His cheeks are hollow. He has dark circles under his eyes._   _He can't even stand up straight with his chest out, yet he is arrogant._

_Nanashi would have never defied him. Why can't Sasuke respect him too?_

_How is it possible that his brother's pure, innocent soul became so cynical and cold?_

_How is possible that the anger, the pain, everything caused by the past, still affect his soul so much that he hasn't recognized him?_

"I can fight!" Izuna's calm façade shakes.

_He could have guided the clan, he just chose not to._

It only lasts a moment before he gets a hold of himself.

"But it wouldn't matter anyway."

_It's not Sasuke's fault if he can't understand._

_He doesn't have the same lucidity that Izuna has. No one has. Izuna knows well that he is the only one who sees things as they really are._

_Even now he could defeat Madara, but why would he do that?_

_Now the world is a gray hell; before it was blood-red, where innocents like Nanashi were killed._

_Izuna knows what's really important, his ideas are different from both Sasuke and Madara._

_He sees that his older brother's long term plan to finally rule in a world where everyone is asleep and powerless is a pathetic illusion; he also sees that his youngest one's is childish and short-sighted._

_People's nature is essentially evil, now they are prevented from hurting anyone._

_They are finally harmless and happier, now that their dreams have come true._

_It's not because Izuna wants to stay away from everything and keep his little brother with him, that he refused fighting._

Izuna runs his fingers through Sasuke's hair.

The boy doesn't react.

_There is something disturbing in his look. Something sad and dangerous._

_Something eerily familiar._

"I felt lost and hopeless in this world, until I saw you, your memory, your dream. They made me remember. They made me understand."

Discomfort and confusion make their way on the younger's tired face.

"We don't have the Infinite Tsukuyomi anymore but we have each other. We can create our own dream once again, and it won't be a dream anymore."

Sasuke would like to push the other away but he can't. His legs feel so heavy and his head is spinning. "What the hell are you talking about?"

He hisses.

"I'm talking about reincarnation," Izuna explains patiently, "About our souls having met in a different body, in a different time, with the faint awareness of the other's existence as only constant in an ever changing reality that pulled both souls towards opposite directions, while they pushed back to find the perfect balance they were born in, constantly seeking for the other, fighting pain, sorrow, solitude and longing, until they were graced to be born together once again, in this life."

"There is no reincarnation", Sasuke says matter-of factly.

He recognizes those words though: he heard them before.

Itachi's words. The cliff. The cicadas chirping, the scent of pines. The fragrance of Itachi's hair.

It was nothing but a dream, Sasuke thinks with a tinge of regret as he pushes back  _everything happened after that moment_ , for he needs to act.

"I don't want you to risk your life for nothing", Izuna reiterates, "I have already lost you once. This time I'll protect you forever, little one."

He pulls Sasuke closer but the other places a hand on his chest to stop him.

"It's a lie. You are making things up."

"You don't remember but I do", Izuna illustrates slowly, like he would do to  _a child_ , "Our souls are connected, Sasuke. You are the reincarnation of my little brother, just as Itachi was my reincarnation. Now his soul has returned to me and we are together again."

He caresses Sasuke's cheek.

"A part of you  _knows_. You accepted me; you made me live in your dream. You said you loved me…."

The younger Uchiha looks away so that his hand is no longer on him, before staring back again.

"Don't you dare touch me", he says coldly.

Izuna's tone doesn't change.

_He has always been patient with children._

"You said you believed in reincarnation."

"I believed in what Itachi said."

"I am Itachi."

"You are not! You are Madara's damn brother!" Sasuke snaps.

Not caring about how weak he is, only wanting to punch this man until he shuts up, he tries, but he is easily blocked.

Izuna can't believe that everything he said has been rejected.

He poured his heart out to the brother he loved and protected since he was a toddler, whom he missed more than words can express, whom he found again and lived with and protected again against everything that would have tainted him, yet his brother prefers acting arrogant, showing off the strength he doesn't even have, using disbelief and pride to hide the unmistakable feelings of love –and lust –he has for him.

_How can he be so ungrateful, so hard-headed, so blind?_

He never saw such cold expression in the boy's eyes.

_He never saw it because Sasuke saw Itachi in him while now he sees someone he doesn't care about._

It's only because the hurt is too much that he reacts.

"You always have to learn things the hard way, don't you?"

Izuna says viciously.

_Sasuke suppresses a shiver: he remembers that tone and those words and the unnamed fear that they bring._

"Why can't you just accept what your big brother tells you?"

_Like I did with Madara. Like Nanashi did with me. Like you did with Itachi._

_Izuna can't help but think that Sasuke is flawed for not being as perfect as Nanashi._

_He can't help but think that his soul has been tainted, that despite his efforts to save him from corruption he arrived too late._

Sasuke's thoughts haphazardlystray from memory to memory of his Infinite Tsukuyomi dream.

_His family alive. His clan respected in a peaceful Konoha._

_Itachi. Growing up together. Working in the Police Corps together._

_Everything felt real but it was just a dream._

_Or a nightmare._

_This Uchiha person replaced Itachi, Sasuke realizes with sadness and burning anger._

_He never embraced Itachi under the stars. He never reveled in the scent of his hair. He never felt he softness of his lips. He never had his hands roaming over his body._

Sasuke only believes what his eyes can see and there's no Itachi in front of him.

* * *

"Why can't you just obey?"

Izuna is strong  _–he could have guided the clan –_ as a shinobi and an Edo Tensei.

He knows how to take advantage of an opponent, and  _this_  Sasuke, drunken from the excess of resurfacing memories, is an easy one to spin around and shove on the bed, pin him down and bind his arms spread wide open, to emphasize his helplessness.

He takes in the sight of the beautiful boy, his pale white skin, his slender body, his raven black hair that look so much like his own.

_He's thinner than he was in the Infinite Tsukuyomi, even paler. He lost muscle mass. He is sick and weak._

_He looks like he needs help. He looks like Nanashi._

_Even though he is flawed, unlike him._

Izuna strips of his own clothes, revealing a perfectly built body, more tanned and healthier than the younger. A moan escapes from his mouth as he leans on Sasuke.

The boy writhes under him, he threatens to kill him but Izuna doesn't listen, his body lost in the physical sensations of having his brother beneath him for real, his mind absorbed in the idea of sharing the same plane of existence.

As the man kisses him Sasuke bites him hard; the backhand that hits him is so strong that his ears can't stop buzzing.

"It's just the two of us now, Sasuke."

Izuna licks the blood spilling from Sasuke's split lip.

He gags the boy with part of his shirt so he won't bite anymore.

He bites his perfect white neck, drawing more blood and licking it, applying unnecessary pressure, only to choke his muffled screams.

_Sasuke's body remembers to have been bitten and choked like this; he wasn't telling Itachi to stop back then._

_He accepted everything Itachi did to him. He loved everything Itachi did to him._

"You are confused now, but you will understand that it's for the best."

He shifts to devour the boy's collarbone and twist his nipples.

_He can feel his ribs. Nanashi is so thin and weak and lost._

_He needs him, more so because he thinks he doesn't._

Izuna removes the cloth; he misses his voice.

_Even if it's only insults that he'll hear from his feisty little brother._

"You were forced to grow up alone and never show weakness but you can relax now that I'm here with you."

Sasuke feels the other man's hard cock pushing onto his lower abdomen.

"You think you know everything but you don't. You brother knows better than you."

"You are not…"

Izuna grabs the boy's head and pulls it backwards.

"They were all threatening you. Disgusting Senju people… They were trying to whore you out."

His thumb traces the strained soft skin, curved at an impossible angle.

"And you, foolish little brother, were falling for them."

_He could break his neck, but he is not. He is just showing who is stronger because his foolish brother respects strength and not reason._

With the other hand he strangles him.

"You can't imagine how painful it is for your older brother to see you selling yourself to such cheap lowly people."

Sasuke's vision blackens, until the grip loosens.

"If I hadn't been there you would have become just like them."

"You…you killed them!" Sasuke stutters, shocked, his eyes wide open.

"No, little one", Izuna grins sadistically " _You_  killed them."

"You were too busy to save Karin but in truth you didn't care enough to save her, there's nothing shameful about being true to your feelings."

The Uchiha's tone is almost playful.

"You killed Tsunade and Naruto because they were threatening me. You shouldn't feel guilty for them," he says with a falsely reassuring tone, for guilt is one of his weapons of choice, "Because that's what good brothers do: protect their brothers against everyone."

Sasuke feels nauseous. He remembers killing Tsunade. He remembers when Karin was attacked and thrown over a ravine as he was fighting against a group of shinobi. He remembers piercing Naruto with his own hands, his hand stuck in his chest as his chidori faded, the blond's puzzled look because he considered him the best of friends and best friends don't kill each other in the dream world he created.

"You did it because you love  _me_ , even if you tried to surpass  _me_  your whole life."

_Sasuke wanted to surpass Itachi. Sasuke loved Itachi._

"You did it because deep down inside you know that  _I_  am right."

Sasuke doesn't scream when Izuna parts his legs. He doesn't yell when he stretches him with his fingers.

_He is used to his ministrations._

He whimpers lightly, almost inaudibly, as the man penetrates him.

"I know you like this. We have done it many times before."

His mind is flooded by the memories of all the times he did it with Itachi.

_Only it wasn't Itachi._

He recognizes how  _Itachi_  held his hand during the act – _now_   _it's a steely grip keeping him in place –_ and the rhythm of the hand stroking his cock.

To his utter discomfort, even if he hates the worthless man who debased his brother's memory, his body recognizes the hand that gave him pleasure as Itachi's hand.

He hates the way his body responds to the stranger's touches; he seeks refuge in his mind, floating between memories of dream, of his past, of everything but the room where Uchiha Izuna is pounding into him faster, harder, deeper, as if he wants to penetrate his soul as much as his body.

He doesn't feel himself coming. He doesn't feel his abused insides being flooded by Izuna's dead seed.

He doesn't feel the man lingering inside him, enacting a pantomime of lovers' cuddling, being annoyed by his lack of reaction then trying to bring him back to reality.

_As if there was a reality._

As if there was just one reality.

According to Itachi reality it is shaped by our preconceptions.

If two different individuals don't see the same things, what he and Izuna see, hear, feel, think might be both true.

_Or false._

If this is the case which one is better, the cruel world Sasuke and Itachi lived in or his dream world?

Is it better to lose his beloved brother to the oppressive system that forced him to kill everyone, in the real world, or to have him by his side, gentle and caring, in a dream?

_Even if in the Infinite Tsukuyomi it was someone else who taught him how to cast genjutsu._

_It was someone else who whispered he loved him._

_It was someone else who understood that he felt more than brotherly love._

_It was someone else who took his virginity._

Which reality would he choose to live in, now?

What if he accepted Izuna as Itachi's previous incarnation? If he used Tsukuyomi on himself to see Itachi in him would it feel real?

If he behaved like Izuna wanted would he be happy with Itachi?

He did behave like  _Itachi_  wanted, in his dream.

_He would have never obeyed to a stranger, but he obeyed the one he considered Itachi, even if he didn't want to._

_Even if it didn't feel right._

In his dream  _everything_  felt real but now that he woke up it's different.

Izuna read into his memories. He took Itachi's appearance and mannerisms but he couldn't enact his deepest essence.

Itachi was a hero; he loved him so much that he sacrificed everything just to let him live.

Itachi was selfless; he wanted him to have friends. He entrusted him to Naruto because he was glad that someone cared for his little brother.

Izuna killed Naruto and Karin, even Tsunade. He didn't want him to have friends. He didn't want anyone to care about him so that he would have been the only one.

Sasuke misses Itachi, since the moment he left and after their encounter he has been missing him even more.

He would give everything to have him back, even believe an illusion...but he can't.

_Izuna is not Itachi._

_Sasuke is not Nanashi._

_Both are disappointed, to the point of hating each other._

_For Sasuke there's no doubt that no one would replace Itachi._

_Izuna thought it was possible to turn him into his ideal, when it didn't happen he resorted to everything he could think of, trying to destroy him into becoming Nanashi._

If he lived a new illusion with this Itachi it would be like the one he woke up from.

A dream turned into a nightmare.

 _Itachi_  would eliminate everyone who approaches him, until they would end up alone in a desolate world.

Then it would be like the reality he saw outside the window.

* * *

When Sasuke comes back the sky is a darker shade of gray.

Candlelight illuminates the room.

Izuna is sitting at a desk, looking at his own reflection in a mirror.

_Thinking about how low his beloved Nanashi's soul fell in this life._

_Suffering because his brother became vicious and spiteful and blind to who really loves him._

_Wondering why he doesn't recognize him._

_Asking himself what he can do to save him._

_Asking himself if he still can save him._

_A part of him wants to believe that Sasuke is not Nanashi at all but he can't._

_He just knows he is, just like he knows that those Senju descendants were corrupting him._

"Do you see how disgusting you are?"

Sasuke's voice, full of contempt, shakes him out of his painful musings.

Still tied to the bed, noticing that the rope is looser, he tries to prop himself on his elbows, wincing, as all his body aches, especially his lower abdomen and back.

"And you dare say you're Itachi…My brother was perfect, while you are nothing but a freak with no courage."

It's useless to cover his ears; something Izuna tried hard to keep together breaks inside his soul.

"You say you're strong but you're afraid to defy your brother."

Sasuke's tone is cruelly taunting.

_So is his gaze. He is looking at a monster._

_He is looking at Izuna's real appearance._

"You tied me up even if I have no chakra…Are you afraid of me, niisan?"

Especially when he calls him big brother.

Izuna doesn't register that he is throwing himself at Sasuke, landing on his stomach with such violence that he has to wait for the subsequent coughing fit to be over before punching the boy in the face once, twice, three times.

Sasuke is weak; he has not enough strength to stop him.

Still, his defiant look and his lopsided smirk don't leave him.

With a broken, breathless voice he incites him to continue and Izuna keeps punching him, blood and bruises covering the face he loved so much.

_Nanashi's face._

_Izuna can't stop hitting the tainted body that has trapped his precious brother's soul._

"You are not Itachi and you'll never be… _Izuna-niisan_ …"

Sasuke's sword is right there.

Izuna used it to absorb his chakra pattern and establish a better connection; how ironic that now he is pointing it at the boy's chest as he's straddling him.

"Go on… _Izuna_."

Sasuke shows no trace of fear, unlike the times  _Itachi_  threatened to leave him forever.

Izuna sinks the blade in his lung.

During the war they avoided piercing their enemies' hearts so that before bleeding out they would recognize the one who killed them and acknowledge who was stronger.

The boy's eyes open wide.

_As if in his heart he didn't believe that Izuna could kill him._

_As if a part of him believed that Izuna really wanted to protect him._

His look becomes hazier as blood starts oozing and his smirk softens into a smile.

"Niisan. I'm back."

He whispers, his unfocused gaze locked over Izuna's shoulder.

_As if he is looking at someone._

There is no hate, no grudge –no acknowledgement –towards Izuna, despite all the attacks and hateful words he spat until that moment.

_As if he did it on purpose._

_As if he used everything he experienced about Izuna to bring him to this point._

The elder  _expected_  him to be cruel until the very end.

_He would have told himself that he did the right thing, punishing a traitor who didn't want to be saved._

_He would have convinced himself that his soul was too corrupted._

In his heart he  _hoped_  that Sasuke would be scared and would beg him to let him live.

_Then he would struggle between his love for the boy and his duty as older brother._

_He would have to hurt him anyway, make him feel death to teach him a lesson, but he would heal him as soon as he admitted he has always been wrong and that he is ready to become a better person._

Izuna knows his little brother, he tells himself as he waits for him to repent, reminding him between the tears that he loved him more than anything and anyone.

He silently prays the old Uchiha gods to bring Nanashi back to him, but they don't listen to him.

Just like  _his_  brother.

Sasuke's smile turns sweeter before he dies in a puddle of blood.

_As if someone told him "Welcome back"._

He is happy now. His war is over. His nightmare is over.

He's going where Itachi is.

No reality, no Infinite Tsukuyomi, but something else entirely is waiting for him.

He's going to be in Itachi's arms forever, protected from everything, finally safe, Sasuke thinks before his consciousness leaves his body, while Izuna is left alone, holding his dead brother's corpse once again, in a gray-white world as empty and barren as his soul.

* * *

 

> " _I'll kill you if I can't have you"_
> 
> _(Marilyn Manson, Mr Superstar)_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I consider the creative process almost as interesting as the story itself, I hope someone is interested in it enough to bear my explanation.  
> My story has four levels of meaning.  
> The first one is literal, the actual plot, the AU influenced by sci-fi.  
> My Izuna knows a different, harsher time and different values. Bound to Madara by duty more than love, he buried his most humane part when Nanashi died and discovers it again when he is brought back, but the peculiar nature of his new life, the world he's living in, the isolation and "forced spectator" condition turn him into a self-centered, possessive, narcissistic man with an inferiority and superiority complex. He throws his values away yet he's still thinking he's acting for the greater good of humanity and for Sasuke's salvation. I wrote his reasonings as convoluted because he doesn't think straight.  
> The second level is metaphorical.  
> Izuna hates his Edo Tensei self and his life. He hides in Sasuke's dream and impersonates Itachi, whose existence isn't real, it's only in Sasuke's memories and dreams. If it's exciting at first, then it becomes hard because Izuna's needs and thoughts are not Itachi's. Not even his feelings towards Sasuke are. Eventually he forgets his own self to "become" a distorted version of Itachi, and he destroys everyone and Sasuke who, although not consciously, remind him that he's not Itachi.  
> The IT world represents the internet, where many seek refuge from a hostile reality, often putting on a mask of an ideal personality more or less inspired by fictional characters, temporarily gaining confidence and happiness, even though offline things stay the same...in fact they get worse in comparison. Online they have an audience and friends who think they're cool, offline everything is boring and harsh, and they're nobodys. What's even worse is that their online existence is not fake, even though their persona is. They form bonds with people, they develop feelings for them and they're real and strong, maybe even stronger than those in real life.  
> The third level is also metaphorical, it expands the second.  
> Izuna and Sasuke's relationship represents represents an online relationship gone bad, but also a representation of what happens between a manipulator, a covert narcissist to be specific, and their prey. The things Izuna does are documented as manipulation techniques, from the exploration phase to find out everything about the victim, to the idealization/love bombing where they mold themselves over the victim's ideal of perfection. Then things change because they always want more, and whenever Sasuke/their victim lives his own life and doesn't give them constant attention, Izuna blames Sasuke for everything, insulting him with remarks, emotionally blackmailing him, abusing him in every possible way, projecting his own insanity on Sasuke, making him appear crazy and in need when he's the only crazy one who needs him, destroying him to affirm his own self. The stronger the abuse, the more he's brainwashed into believing Izuna's accusations, just like victims only realize too late that they're not guilty for being themselves, and that the insults and remarks that hurt them for so long are specifically tailored by the narcissist to destroy their self-esteem and logical thinking and turn them into an easier prey, and even when they see through the veil of idealization they're confused because how can someone so perfect be so horrible? Sasuke has glitches of understanding but he can't place them, because he's too caught up in the illusion.  
> I've been caught up in a similar illusion too, I've been seeing reality through glitches, while I've been lied to, belittled and manipulated by a creepy narcissist whose only fun in her miserable life was to make me suffer as much as she did, and when I told her off she did everything in her power to destroy me, which hasn't really stopped yet.  
> So this fic means a lot to me. It's my way of creatively coping with what happened.  
> The fourth one is meta.  
> I played with some popular Itasasu tropes, like super jealous possessive Itachi who keeps Sasuke locked in the house...I think that real Itachi is very controlling and domineering over Sasuke but in a different way, he'd never do such gross things to him, he loves Sasuke and he's confident. This crazy abusive, even hysterical Itachi, is Izuna, who's insecure and...not Itachi. Just like Sasuke isn't possessive of Itachi either, like Sasuita tropes portray him. He respects him and follows him, putting him on a pedestal.  
> Sure anyone is free to portray characters as they prefer, fanfictions are first and foremost written for self-indulgence.  
> This is just my opinion and it's completely relative, just like reality is.


End file.
